Pak Govt. seeks Kasabs custody to prosecute other 26/11 suspects

Islamabad, Feb. 18 (ANI): Pakistan has formally requested India to hand over Ajmal Amir Kasab, the prime suspect in the Mumbai terror attacks, to facilitate the successful prosecution of the other accused who had been arrested in Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan has formally requested the Indian Government to hand over the custody of Ajmal Kasab because he is the prime suspect and the rest of these suspects, they are abettors, they abetted the crime, said Pakistans Deputy Attorney General Mohammad Ghazi, who is Special Public Prosecutor for the trial of Pakistani suspects involved in the Mumbai attacks. Ghazi said it would be difficult to prosecute the other accused if Pakistan failed to get Kasabs custody. I am sure the Indian Government is going to look into it, they are going to take a decision because without having the custody of Ajmal Kasab in Pakistan, I think it will be very, very difficult to prosecute the rest of the suspects, Dawn quoted him, as saying. Ghazi hoped that New Delhi would fully cooperate with Islamabad facilitating prosecution of the accused arrested in Pakistan. I am sure better sense, and we get the custody of Ajmal Kasab and we are able to conduct the trial successfully, he said adding, We will try to see what evidence India provides to us because the evidence on both sides is very important…On the basis of the joint evidence, we are going to bring the suspects to justice. India has, so far, ruled out the possibility of handing over Kasab to Pakistan. Three days back, Mumbais Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had claimed that investigating agencies have gathered sufficient evidence to prove that Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab was involved in hatching the conspiracy in Pakistan. Nikam said militants took advantage of Kasabs poor and uneducated background to indoctrinate him and make him a part of a terror module. The concept of religion was wrongly produced before him and, he was completely brainwashed, he said. Pakistani authorities have arrested six suspects, including Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and its communication expert Zarar Shah. Recently, an anti-terror court placed LeT activist Hamad Amin Sadiq in police remand of the Federal Investigation Agency for 15 days. The Pakistan Government had decided to conduct an in-camera trial because of security concerns about terrorist activities. In order to make it safe and secure and free from all these activities, I think the government has decided to hold the proceedings in-camera. I think that is also good for national security, Ghazi said. (ANI)